


crafting.

by quasar_manul



Category: Cardcaptor Sakura
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:48:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27953402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quasar_manul/pseuds/quasar_manul
Summary: Tomoyo faces her fears as she begins the process to craft a new dress for Sakura, completely on her own for the first time. 770 words.
Relationships: Daidouji Tomoyo/Kinomoto Sakura
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	crafting.

Tomoyo clenched her fists at her sides, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She focused on the feel of the crisp linen trousers under her balled hands. The sound of the elegant, antique grandfather clock, ticking away the minutes, judging her and her incapable hands.

No, she thought.

“I can do this,” she said out loud.

“Sakura would want me to try my best. So I will try my best!” Tomoyo opened her eyes and straightened her ruffled blouse. She swept her long black hair back into a sturdy ponytail, tight enough to tame her locks and keep them out of her way. Then she took one more deep breath, and summoning all her courage, looked at the challenge in front of her:

A plain piece of shimmery pink fabric.

The material had company off to the side – white and sunny yellow trim, different textures of other pinks that coordinated and complemented the main, various notions. A concept drawing – modeled by a sweet cartoonish Sakura, posed as if in action catching a Clow card.

But the first challenge was the pink yardage in front of her. It was daunting in its purity. The smooth fabric was lovely, just as it was – pale petal pink with a faint touch of sparkle. As precious as Sakura herself. Too precious, perhaps, to risk on an 11-year-old’s first solo sewing task? Tomoyo picked up the shears – sharp, knife-edged steel. Made for cutting fabric and fabric _only_ , as she had heard plenty while working under supervision. She felt the slight chill and the heft, and put them down again.

She listened to the clock.

She tilted her head, watching the afternoon light shift across the glimmering strands woven into the fabric. With a pang, she realized she had a choice to make – abandon now, or destroy this one thing to build it into something even _more_.

But would it be good enough?

Could Tomoyo, with her inexpert abilities, be the one to make it into that ineffable state of _more_ than just fabric?

Sakura deserved cuteness and quality. She was working much harder than any kid Tomoyo knew, and more than some of the adults, too.

Which was why Tomoyo was trying to catch up beyond video editing and fashion direction. She wanted to wrap Sakura in love and protection – to be with her on her dangerous quests even when they were apart. Cute outfits were tangible proof of love. It would mean so much more if they came entirely from Tomoyo’s own hands, not merely her sketchbook.

She knew the basics, of course. She had helped at every stage along the way, on other projects, on other outfits for Sakura. But…never quite start to finish on the same thing. Never without a reassuring hand to check work and help out when things went wrong. Tomoyo had insisted she wanted to do this herself, but now she hesitated. The fabric could be ruined instead of gracing Sakura’s presence.

“I don’t have to do this,” Tomoyo spoke out loud, quietly. Her heart sank with each syllable.

“Someone else could do it better.” The truth of that helped it ring clearer in the closed room. Her own words stung.

“But no one else can fill a dress with my love,” Tomoyo declared, quietly, firmly, almost defiantly.

“And I have to start somewhere, sometime,” Tomoyo nodded to herself.

“Even if…even if this isn’t perfect enough. For Sakura, I’ll keep practicing. This is the first, after all!” She laughed a little. “But it won’t be the last. I’m sure of it.”

Tomoyo smoothed the pearly yardage with one hand and picked up the scissors again with her other. She aligned the edge of the blade with the line of the thin, crinkly tissue pattern pinned there, held down by elegant long straight pins. These pins had cheerful flat plastic flowers instead of round heads. She smiled at seeing those – sakura blossom pins, for a Sakura dress.

She snipped the edge of the fabric. Carefully, she cut through, slowly trimming the shape from the flat fabric below, one slice at a time.

She lifted up the piece and studied it. Without thinking, she broke into a grin. Evenly cut all around, matching the edges of the pattern – it was good enough to get started. Good enough to keep going.

“I am good enough for Sakura,” she whispered to herself, not even really listening as her mind focused on the next step towards perfection. She set the piece aside and started on the next one, satisfied with the beginning, but with plenty more work left to do.

“I am good enough.”


End file.
